Alaska Day 74 - Chena Hot Springs to Paxson, AK

Leaving Chena Hot Springs

Another nice day to travel but not much to see with all the cloud cover. From Chena to Fairbanks seemed a lot shorter than we remembered traveling the other way. We went on through Fairbanks, the North Pole and several other little villages and on to Delta Junction.  However, before getting to Delta we had to stop at the Knotty Shop along the Richardson Highway. The shop has all kinds of furniture and other items made from knotty trees. We are getting a lot better because we can stop at these places and not buy anything.  While in Delta Junction we stopped by the First Baptist Church to take a couple pictures and were fortunate enough to see Dave Becker, the pastor, for a short visit. After visiting with Dave, we decided to stop by the Buffalo Diner and have an ice cream prior to heading further south.  The drive south from Delta was nothing compared to our trip on this same route back in July.  In July we could see all the beauty of the Alaska range with all the snow covered mountains.  Today we would never knew there were any mountains because of the overcast and smoke from a previous fire.  We decided to stop at a Paxson Lake BLM campground on Paxson Lake to spend the evening and go on to Valdez the next morning..

The good part of the highway from Chena Hot Springs to Fairbanks

Santa's House in North Pole Alaska

Santa at the North Pole

A picture of the Alaska pipeline taken from a bridge crossing the Tanana River on the Richardson Highway.














John and Gypsy in front of the Knotty Shop with a Knotty caribou.

A knotty something?













 Entrance to the Knotty Shop

Knotty wood for sale...

First Baptist Church in Delta Junction

The pictures from the Richardson Highway were not as beautiful as they were in July.   The overcast skies and light rain made the mountains hard to see.

We hoped these signs only pertained to winter time driving?

Another view of the Richardson Highway...

Paxson Lake was we spent the night and  a little over four hours to Valdez.















Everywhere we go we see these signs.  We think they may be trying to scare people out of Alaska?

On the campground road looking for a site. Most of these campgrounds are on the honor system.  You find a spot, fill out the registration form and put registration and money in the drop box...

Our campsite for the night and we haven't seen a bear yet...